LEADTOOLS supports several 2-state and 4-state barcode symbologies employed throughout the world by various post mail office systems.
These barcodes are comprised of bars of different heights, as opposed to different widths that most linear 1D barcodes employ.
2-state barcodes are able to encode the digits 0-9 and are effectively used for zip codes, routing numbers, and tracking numbers,
while 4-state barcodes can encode alphanumeric characters to encode the entire address.

LEADTOOLS USPS and 4-State Barcode SDK Symbols

Postal Numeric Encoding Technique (POSTNET)

POSTNET was developed by the United States Postal Service (USPS) to represent the 5 or 9 digit ZIP code or an 11 digit "Delivery Point Code" of US destination addresses.
A POSTNET symbol can be printed upon an envelope and be used to facilitate faster mail sorting.
These symbols are printed upon flat pieces of mail such as magazines and envelopes.

Post Alpha Numeric Encoding Technique (PLANET)

PLANET is similar to POSTNET in that it uses half and full height bars to encode data, always begins and ends with a full bar, and digits are represented using a two of five code.
The major difference between POSTNET and PLANET is that in POSTNET full bars represent "on" bits while in PLANET full bars represent "off" bits.
PLANET is used by the United States Postal Service to identify and track mail during delivery.

USPS 4-State Customer Barcode (USPS4CB)/Intelligent Mail Barcode

Intelligent Mail Barcode, more commonly known as 4-State Customer Barcode or USPS4CB, is a 65-bar code used by the United States Postal Service for domestic delivery.
It is designed to provide improved functionality and information than its predecessors POSTNET and PLANET.
It effectively combines the routing ZIP code and tracking information into a single barcode.

Royal Mail (RM4SCC)/CBC (Customer Bar Code)

The RM4SCC symbol is used by the Royal Mail Cleanmail service.
The Royal Mail Service has specific requirements placed upon this symbol to ensure maximum readability and efficiency during the mail routing process.

Australia Post 4-State

Australia Post 4-State is used by Australia Post for postal code and automatic mail sorting.
Australia Post has chosen the 4-State barcode, a derivation that is already used successfully by other postal administrations.
It comprises four types of bars (the four states), each of which has a distinct name, value, and barcode symbol.

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White Papers Written About USPS and 4-State Barcode

For many of us, a day hardly goes by without seeing a barcode. For software developers, this creates immense opportunities to create software that handles both the encoding and decoding of barcodes. How does a developer or project manager get started on their path to success? When you boil it down, there are two primary questions you should ask: Which barcodes should I use? How will I use them? This white paper will help clear the muddied waters surrounding both of these questions by detailing several of the most popular barcodes and how programmers can use the award winning imaging SDK technology in LEADTOOLS to quickly and easily develop their application.

The LEADTOOLS Recognition Imaging SDK is a handpicked collection of LEADTOOLS SDK features designed to build end-to-end document imaging applications within enterprise-level document automation solutions that require OCR, MICR, OMR, barcode, forms recognition and processing, PDF, print capture, archival, annotation, and image viewing functionality. This powerful set of tools utilizes LEAD's award-winning image processing technology to intelligently identify document features that can be used to recognize and extract data from any type of scanned or faxed form image.

The LEADTOOLS Document Imaging Suite SDK is a comprehensive collection of LEADTOOLS SDK features designed to build end-to-end document imaging solutions that require OCR, MICR, OMR, ICR, barcode, forms recognition and processing, PDF, HTML5 Zero-footprint viewing, conversion, print, capture, archival, annotation, and image viewing functionality. This powerful set of tools utilizes LEAD's award-winning image processing technology to intelligently identify document features that can be used to recognize and extract data from any type of scanned or faxed form image.

LEADTOOLS is a family of comprehensive toolkits designed to help programmers integrate raster, document, medical, multimedia and vector imaging into their desktop, server, tablet and mobile applications.